Study details rising cost of meth abuse

Published 10:52 pm Friday, February 6, 2009

The economic cost of methamphetamine abuse in the U.S. — including the cost to jail users, put addicts through treatment and clean up meth labs — was about $23 billion in 2005, according to a new study

The findings are surprising given how little attention meth use has gotten in anti-drug campaigns compared with other drugs, such as cocaine and marijuana, wrote the authors of the study, which was conducted by the RAND Corp.

“Obviously the next step is to look into prevention efforts, enforcement efforts,” said Nancy Nicosia, the study’s lead author and a RAND economist.

Meth, sometimes known as “speed,” “ice,” and “crank,” is a highly addictive stimulant that affects the central nervous system. It can be smoked, inhaled or injected.

The RAND study was the first attempt to do a national assessment of the costs associated with meth use. Researchers looked at data from 2005 because it was the most recent year for which data needed to do the estimate was available.

According to the study, one big portion of the costs associated with meth use — $4.2 billion — is related to crimes committed by meth users to feed their habits and the cost of sending them through the criminal justice system.

A 2001 study estimated the cost of heroin addiction in the U.S. in 1996 at $21.9 billion.

The cost associated with treating meth addicts in community-based clinics is estimated at $545 million.

The study also looked at the impact on children of meth users, and the costs associated with removing them from their homes and putting them in foster care. According to the study, that costs $905 million.

According to the study, the estimated cost on society for each meth user in the country is $26,872.

Tom Siebel, chairman of the Meth Project, a nonprofit dedicated to meth use prevention, said that the study “reinforces the need to invest in serious prevention programs that work.”